Misleading headline bogs down otherwise accurate story on important issue

In-person early voting in Hamilton County has been given a minimum price tag: $18,676. That’s how much The Cincinnati Enquirer
says it will cost to staff polling booths in downtown
Cincinnati during the early voting hours directed by Secretary of
State Jon Husted.
Unfortunately, in an effort to appear as if the early voting issue has two sides, the Enquirer
never bothered putting the number in context. The article reads as if
that number, which amounts to $406 an hour, is a big expense for
Hamilton County. In reality, the additional cost would amount to about
0.009 percent of the 2012 county budget — a rounding error in the $206 million budget. Meanwhile, the Enquirer downplayed a new $300,000 cost to county taxpayers in the top story for today's paper. The article pointed out the unnecessary cost is due to county commissioners refusing to make a tough decision, but the headline made it seem like the county is getting away with little-to-no trouble.
The number is important because costs are the top
non-racist concern Republicans bring up when opposing more early voting
hours. The other concerns are empowering military voters above normal citizens, which contradicts the entire point of civilian control of the military and ignores mail-in absentee ballots, and voter fraud, which is completely overblown by Republicans.
Over the weekend, Ohio’s early voting battle caught national headlines again when Doug Preisse, chairman of the Franklin County Republican Party, told The Columbus Dispatch
in an email, “I guess I really actually feel we shouldn’t contort the
voting process to accommodate the urban — read African-American —
voter-turnout machine.” The statement echoed earlier statements from
former Florida Republican Chairman Jim Greer, who told MSNBC that voting
restrictions are an attempt to limit voting from minorities and younger
voters.The admission to racial politics confirmed suspicions from Democrats that limiting early voting hours is at least partly about
suppressing the vote among demographics that typically vote Democrat.
The estimate comes in the middle of an ongoing controversy
regarding in-person early voting hours. Husted
said Wednesday that counties must all follow the same early voting
hours. But the hours excluded early voting during the weekend, much to
the dismay of state Democrats. In response, Democrats in Montgomery
County, which is where Dayton is, decided to try having weekend voting
anyway, and Husted suspended and threatened to fire the Democrats on the
Montgomery County Board of Elections. Democrats were not happy with the threats.“It's outrageous and borderline criminal,” said Chris Redfern, chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party, in a statement.
Ohio Democrats held a rally in Columbus this morning in
support of Montgomery County Democrats. The Dayton-area Democrats appeared in a hearing with Husted today to see if they will be fired
from the Montgomery County Board of Elections. A decision will be given later in the week.
At the hearing, Dennis Lieberman, one of the Democrats on the Montgomery County Board of Elections,
said he “was not put on the board of elections to be a puppet.”
Lieberman also pointed out that Montgomery County saved $200,000 in the
2008 elections by lowering the amount of precincts required with weekend
voting.
The controversy is following up an earlier controversy
about county-by-county discrepancies in early voting hours — an issue
Hamilton County barely avoided when Husted
directed county boards to invoke uniform in-person early voting hours
across the state a day before Hamilton County Board of Election
hearings.

Faced with the choice of raising property
taxes or funding senior and mental health services at their current
levels, the Hamilton County Board of County Commissioners voted on Aug. 8
to approve a ballot measure that would effectively cut tens of millions
of dollars from those services if passed by voters.

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney announced his running mate Saturday:
U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan. Ryan is currently the chairman of the U.S. House
of Representatives Budget Committee. He is known by many Republicans as
an “intellectual” in the party. He is known by everyone else as the guy
who tried to dismantle Medicare. Ryan is also a Miami University
graduate, and he was once a staffer for now-Gov. John Kasich when Kasich
was still a congressman.State Rep. Connie Pillich, a Democratic House member for suburban Cincinnati, is facing a tough campaign for re-election against Republican Mike Wilson. One of the reasons the campaign is more difficult for Pillich this time is the redistricting process was used to redraw her district to favor Republicans.Hamilton County is going to be holding eight budget
forums. The forums give the public an opportunity to discuss what they
think should be prioritized and slashed in the next Hamilton County
budget.A new report found the 2020 Cincinnati jobs market will be
dominated by health care and computer jobs as the city continues its
strong growth. The report also found a surprising amount of top jobs
will only require a high school diploma or an equivalent to a high school diploma.The Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes
(COAST) is continuing its dishonest campaign to block the Blue Ash
Airport deal, but Cincinnati and Blue Ash lawmakers don’t seem too
worried. At least COAST admits it’s largely interested in blocking the
streetcar “boondoggle,” not just the legitimacy or details of Blue Ash
rescinding the original deal. CityBeat previously covered the Blue Ash Airport issue here.The number of Ohio homeowners late on mortgage payments
rose in the second quarter, according to a new report. The rise reverses
a trend of dropping mortgage delinquencies seen earlier in the year.The Complete Ohio College task force will be meeting for
the first time today. The group is meant to increase the amount of
college degree holders in Ohio.The Brookings Institute released a study that shows unemployment would be at 7.1 percent without cuts to government job.Romney has called for a truce on his business record and
tax history. Apparently, Romney wants to focus on issues, even though
he’s the one that has repeatedly brought up his business record time and
time again. Seriously, is this real life?Speaking of Romney, he will be in Ohio Tuesday.President Barack Obama takes the old saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” really seriously.Here is a turtle with a mohawk.

Cincinnati
and Hamilton County fared poorly on a national list of places with
polluted air that was released last week. The
Cincinnati-Middletown-Wilmington metropolitan region ranked as the
eighth-worst for air particle pollution, according to the American
Lung Association.

Lung Association: Region is slowly improving

Cincinnati and Hamilton
County fared poorly on a national list of places with polluted air that was
released Wednesday.The
Cincinnati-Middletown-Wilmington metropolitan region ranked as the eighth-worst
for air particle pollution, according to the American Lung Association.Meanwhile, Hamilton County
was given an “F” grade for its number of high ozone days, and a “D” grade for
air particle pollution by the Lung Association.The rankings were included in
the group’s “State of the Air 2012” report. The annual air quality report
grades cities and counties based, in part, on the color-coded Air Quality Index
developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to alert the public
to daily unhealthy air conditions.The 13th annual report uses
the most recent, quality-controlled EPA data collected from 2008-10 from
official monitors for ozone and particle pollution, the two most widespread
types of air pollution. Counties are graded for ozone, year-round particle
pollution and short-term particle pollution levels. Also, the report uses the
EPA’s calculations for year-round particle levels.Generally, the report found
that air quality in America’s most polluted cities was at its cleanest since the
organization’s annual report began 13 years ago. This year’s report details the
trend that standards set under the Clean Air Act to cleanup major air pollution
sources — including coal-fired power plants, diesel engines, and SUVs — are
working to drastically cut ozone (smog) and particle pollution (soot) from the
air. Despite this progress, unhealthy levels of air pollution still
exist and in some parts of the nation worsened.More than 40 percent of
people in the United States live in areas where air pollution continues to
threaten their health. That means more than 127 million people are living in
counties with dangerous levels of either ozone or particle pollution that can
cause wheezing and coughing, asthma attacks, heart attacks or premature death.The Cincinnati region ranked
21st for high ozone days out of 277 metropolitan areas. Also, it ranked 39th
for 24-hour air particle pollution.Still, the region is
improving. The region has had 19.4 fewer high ozone days annually on average since
1996, and 10 fewer high-particle pollution days since 2000.

Republicans control most functions of
Hamilton County government. Despite the dominance, however, county
commissioners say mid-year budget cuts totaling $4.78 million might have
to be made because several departments — led by the Sheriff’s Office —
are over-budget so far.

Janaya Trotter to run against powerful Republican for county prosecutor

If Janaya Trotter is successful, she
would be both the first woman and the first African-American prosecutor
in Hamilton County’s history. Trotter, 31, is a lifelong county
resident who graduated from Northern Kentucky University’s Salmon P.
Chase Law College in 2008.

One of the biggest attractions at The Banks shopping and residential district opens to the public today. The Moerlein Lager House restaurant and microbrewery, next to the still under-development Smale Riverfront Park, features 19th Century-inspired food and a large selection of beers including craft brews and more than 100 international beers, all meant to evoke Cincinnati's rich brewing history.Frustrated about dog owners who won't clean up after their pooches, managers at an apartment complex in West Chester Township are going all Forensic Files to stop the problem. The Lakes at West Chester Village told residents all dogs must submit a mouth swab so managers have a DNA database to use so it can match up poo left on the lawns with the rightful dog and its owner.With Opening Day about a month away, the Cincinnati Reds are poised to win the division title this season, according to the Associated Press. With a revamped pitching staff and star first baseman Joey Votto, the team's prospects look better than they have in years, said AP sports writer Tom Withers. The season opener against the Miami Marlins will begin at 4:10 p.m. on April 5, after the annual Findlay Market Opening Day Parade through Over-the-Rhine and downtown.Budget cuts at the Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) could mean the end for Hamilton County's 4-H program. County commissioners have ordered MSD to cut 10 percent of its budget, and some of that probably will come from the $400,000 the agency gives to programs like 4-H, which helps young people learn animal husbandry and life sciences activities like raising sheep and cattle. Some critics, however, question why sewer funds were being used to support an unrelated program in the first place.In news elsewhere, hometown boy George Clooney largely was shut out of winning awards at Sunday night's Oscar ceremony. Clooney was nominated as Best Actor for The Descendants and for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Ides of March, but lost in both categories – to Jean Dujardin for The Artist and to the writers of The Descendants, respectively. Remember, George: It's an honor just to be nominated, and you still have that gorgeous hair. Other big winners last night included Meryl Streep, Octavia Spencer and Christopher Plummer.In more of his over-the-top invective, Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum dropped a couple of doozies over the weekend while campaigning in Michigan. First, Santorum said President Obama was “a snob” for saying he wanted all Americans to go to college. Then, he disparaged a 1960 speech by President Kennedy on the separation of church and state by saying he “almost threw up” while reading it. Oh, Republicans: Please nominate this guy, so we can all bet on just how many states he will lose in November.WikiLeaks has begun publishing more than five million confidential emails from Stratfor, a U.S.-based security firm. Stratfor's computers were hacked by the activist group Anonymous in December. The company provides analysis of world affairs to subscribers which include major corporations, military officials and international government agencies.Two people were arrested in a foiled plot to kill Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin after next week's presidential election, according to Russian state TV. The men said they prepared the attack in the Ukrainian port city of Odessa and were planning to carry it out in Moscow. Meanwhile, Putin warned Western leaders against a military strike on Iran. He said if such an attack happens, “the fallout would be truly catastrophic.”